Dia spent 21 years in the Florida prison system.
Monday, October 21, 2019
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Silent No More!
The first silent protest a Lowell 3 weeks ago.
One of the banners for protest No. 2 at Lowell on Oct 19. Many more women
have joined. This was started by former inmate Deborah Bennett who spent over 20 years
at Lowell for having oxy's.
Friday, October 11, 2019
Sunday, October 6, 2019
Left a Quadriplegic Due to Beating by Guards
Quadriplegic inmate paralyzed in beating sues state Corrections department over injuries
A lawyer for a female inmate who was brutally beaten by staff at Lowell Correctional Institution and is now a quadriplegic is asking a federal judge to intervene so they can document the extent of her injuries in her pending lawsuit against the state.
Cheryl Weimar, 51, who has a history of mental illness and physical disabilities, is being cared for in a hospital in Ocala, near Lowell, the state's main prison for women and the largest women's prison in the nation.
The Department of Corrections has refused to let Tallahassee lawyer Ryan Andrews or his team take photos of Weimar since the Aug. 21 attack, first reported by the Miami Herald.
“We’re allowed to see her but not photograph her,” Andrews said. “If she was in prison we would need a court order to take photos but she’s in a hospital. What is the security risk?”
Andrews filed an emergency motion this morning with U.S. Judge Mark Walker in the Northern District of Florida seeking permission to take photos and videos of Weimar’s injuries. He noted that English television personality Piers Morgan was recently allowed in Lowell to interview inmates for a documentary on female killers.
"The hypocrisy of preventing access to document my client's condition with pictures and videotapes, is especially apparent when Piers Morgan was able to enter Lowell CI to film a Netflix special that fetishizes women killers, but pictures of my client who was brutally beaten by (FDC) employees is not permitted," Ryan said.
An investigation into the beating is under way with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as lead investigative agency and help from the FDC Office of Inspector General, spokeswoman Michelle Glady said.
“We recognize that preliminary reports from this incident are concerning. We’re committed to examining all the details regarding this situation and ensuring appropriate action is taken,” FDC Secretary Mark Inch said.
Meanwhile, Glady said, the officers involved "have been reassigned to posts that do not have contact with inmates, pending the outcome of this investigation."
Information related to the incident is limited while the investigation is ongoing, she said.
"When the investigation is complete, the report will be made available to the public," Glady added.
As far as the lawsuit goes, the FDC hadn't been served yet and couldn't comment on pending litigation, Glady said.
In the lawsuit filed by Andrews Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District of Florida, the Aug. 21 attack on Weimar was graphically described: Four guards beat her within an inch of her life and broke her neck.
“She is now a quadriplegic because of the Defendants’ excessive use of force,” the lawsuit said.
Her injuries are so extensive she can’t talk or move, Andrews told the Democrat. He had to resort to communicating with her via the alphabet because of a tracheostomy tube.
They are seeking damages that her civil rights were violated under the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
The lawsuit also names Karl Weimer, Cheryl’s husband. He brings a claim for loss of consortium.
Cheryl Weimar has been an inmate since January 21, 2016, and was due to be released Feb. 9, 2021. She was convicted of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to six years, 8 months and 28 days .
Weimar complained that she couldn’t perform her task assignment to clean toilets because she had a hip condition well documented by prison officials, and declared a medical emergency. Prison policy requires staff to call medical personnel once an inmate declares a medical emergency.
Instead, one of the guards got angry with her and a confrontation followed, the lawsuit said.
The confrontation escalated, and Weimar declared an "inmate psychological emergency," the lawsuit said. One or more officers slammed Weimar to the ground, beat her with blows to her head, neck and back, the complaint said.
After they beat her, the defendants dragged her “like a rag doll to a nearby wheelchair, allowing her head to bounce along the ground along the way,” the complaint said.
The complaint alleges the four officers dragged her outside the compound where they continued to beat her in an area not covered by surveillance cameras.
Besides breathing through a tracheostomy tube, Weimar is being fed through a PEG tube, and will likely require around-the-clock medical care for the rest of her life, the complaint said.
“This malicious and sadistic beating of the defenseless plaintiff… caused Cheryl Weimar to suffer life-threatening and permanent injuries,” the complaint said.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Evie's Story
Evie was incarcerated at Lowell C. I in Ocala, Florida. She went in at 16 as a youthful offender but was charged as an adult.
Sunday, September 29, 2019
Update on Sadie
Hi everyone!
Sorry this update has taken so long but was busy advocating for my daughter and prison reform.
Last October Sadie got moved to Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy, FL. This is a private prison and what a difference! She got booted from Lowell because I was a pest : ). Thank goodness. Gadsden has tons of programs, an excellent rec program with a track. Barbecues every once in awhile for the women. Sadie has never seen anyone pepper sprayed or excessive use of force. Guards are still guards-no respect for other human beings but this prison is light years ahead of Lowell.
It took awhile for Sadie to adjust because she was so institutionalized at Lowell and paranoid all the time.
She is in the service dog training program and teaches yoga. I NEVER worry about her at Gadsden. I can finally relax and sleep at night.
But things are getting worse at Lowell. 4 guards just broke a woman's neck and she is paralyzed from the neck down. She was a disabled 51 year old woman. She now has a lawyer. The guards have, as of yet, not been charged. We'll see. Former inmates and families did a silent protest outside of Lowell a couple of weeks ago and another is planned. They were on the news.
Lots is happening. Lot of the abuse is being talked about in news articles and several representatives and some senators are pushing for criminal justice reform. Baby steps.
Criminal justice reform is happening all around the country because the way we treat our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated is inhumane and unconscionable and as a nation and humans we should be better than that.
Sorry this update has taken so long but was busy advocating for my daughter and prison reform.
Last October Sadie got moved to Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy, FL. This is a private prison and what a difference! She got booted from Lowell because I was a pest : ). Thank goodness. Gadsden has tons of programs, an excellent rec program with a track. Barbecues every once in awhile for the women. Sadie has never seen anyone pepper sprayed or excessive use of force. Guards are still guards-no respect for other human beings but this prison is light years ahead of Lowell.
It took awhile for Sadie to adjust because she was so institutionalized at Lowell and paranoid all the time.
She is in the service dog training program and teaches yoga. I NEVER worry about her at Gadsden. I can finally relax and sleep at night.
But things are getting worse at Lowell. 4 guards just broke a woman's neck and she is paralyzed from the neck down. She was a disabled 51 year old woman. She now has a lawyer. The guards have, as of yet, not been charged. We'll see. Former inmates and families did a silent protest outside of Lowell a couple of weeks ago and another is planned. They were on the news.
Lots is happening. Lot of the abuse is being talked about in news articles and several representatives and some senators are pushing for criminal justice reform. Baby steps.
Criminal justice reform is happening all around the country because the way we treat our brothers and sisters who are incarcerated is inhumane and unconscionable and as a nation and humans we should be better than that.
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| Me |
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Sadie and her dog Kiri |
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Updates and Unnecessary Death
Well, it's been awhile since writing. I have been extremely busy being an activist and advocate for incarcerated women. Always trying to rally the troops. Eventually we are going to organize a March for Incarcerated Women.
Nothing has changed at Lowell, the prison where Sadie is. Lowell is the largest women's prison in the country. It continues to be fraught with abuse, medical neglect and at times the harshest of conditions when the air goes out, the hot water goes out for weeks and now they have decreased visitation to bi-monthly. There are many petitions and letters to Tally protesting this. They say it is due to contraband from visitors when, in reality, we all know that most of the contraband comes in from the guards.
A young girl died their recently due to medical neglect and Lowell trying to cover it up. Many women die at Lowell but you never know because there are no obits, no newspaper articles and no oversight. Almost every incarcerated woman has seen a friend die from medical neglect at all the women's prisons in Florida. I am inserting a letter from an inmate about the death of the young girl who died. They told the family she died in her sleep. The inmates have another story.
Sadie is doing well. She still works canteen and is a beacon of light and hope for other inmates. She always walks a fine line. In prison you can go to jail on a whim and lose your gain time just because a guard may be having a bad day so you can never truly relax. All the women I have talked to that have been out for years still suffer from PTSD. One women recently likened it to being in battle. She said your sleeping soundly and then your bed is kicked hard, lights come on and someone is throwing everything you own (which is not much) around. They all say the clinking of keys causes them anxiety, having a police car drive behind them sends them into a panic. Loud noises scare them. And it goes on and on. No human being should be treated like an animal robbed of dignity, self-worth and hope.
So recently a former federal PD and I have done a couple small public venues with statistics and information about inmate abuse. People are always shocked and appalled. Inmates truly are the lost and forgotten yet most of them will all get out someday and possibly be your neighbor. They pay for the rest of their lives. We shun them, judge them and don't allow them jobs or housing. And yet we consider ourselves compassionate, empathetic and forgiving human beings. If it's not your loved one in the abyss of hell not your problem-right?
We can learn a lot about ourselves when we look at the way we treat fellow human beings who made mistakes-just as we all have. ALL OF US. Until it happens to your loved one you will never understand unless you are a person of compassion, empathy and forgiveness.
About her death:
Nothing has changed at Lowell, the prison where Sadie is. Lowell is the largest women's prison in the country. It continues to be fraught with abuse, medical neglect and at times the harshest of conditions when the air goes out, the hot water goes out for weeks and now they have decreased visitation to bi-monthly. There are many petitions and letters to Tally protesting this. They say it is due to contraband from visitors when, in reality, we all know that most of the contraband comes in from the guards.
A young girl died their recently due to medical neglect and Lowell trying to cover it up. Many women die at Lowell but you never know because there are no obits, no newspaper articles and no oversight. Almost every incarcerated woman has seen a friend die from medical neglect at all the women's prisons in Florida. I am inserting a letter from an inmate about the death of the young girl who died. They told the family she died in her sleep. The inmates have another story.
Sadie is doing well. She still works canteen and is a beacon of light and hope for other inmates. She always walks a fine line. In prison you can go to jail on a whim and lose your gain time just because a guard may be having a bad day so you can never truly relax. All the women I have talked to that have been out for years still suffer from PTSD. One women recently likened it to being in battle. She said your sleeping soundly and then your bed is kicked hard, lights come on and someone is throwing everything you own (which is not much) around. They all say the clinking of keys causes them anxiety, having a police car drive behind them sends them into a panic. Loud noises scare them. And it goes on and on. No human being should be treated like an animal robbed of dignity, self-worth and hope.
So recently a former federal PD and I have done a couple small public venues with statistics and information about inmate abuse. People are always shocked and appalled. Inmates truly are the lost and forgotten yet most of them will all get out someday and possibly be your neighbor. They pay for the rest of their lives. We shun them, judge them and don't allow them jobs or housing. And yet we consider ourselves compassionate, empathetic and forgiving human beings. If it's not your loved one in the abyss of hell not your problem-right?
We can learn a lot about ourselves when we look at the way we treat fellow human beings who made mistakes-just as we all have. ALL OF US. Until it happens to your loved one you will never understand unless you are a person of compassion, empathy and forgiveness.
About her death:
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